1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to transfer stands for moving a person able to safely stand with the aid of a support but unable to safely walk.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past there have been portable transfer stands used for aiding an attendant or nurse in moving a patient or person able to safely stand with the aid of a support but unable to safely walk. Such devices typically include a platform on which the patient stands. The platform is rotatably mounted on a base. A support structure for gripping by the patient as he supports himself in a standing position is attached to the platform. However, some of the prior transfer stands have been bulky and inconvenient to use. Others have not provided adequate structural support around the patient. Known prior devices have been capable only of moving the patient by rotating him in a standing position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,509 discloses a device with a centrally mounted upright extending from a rotatable platform. A pair of grips are provided on a handlebar assembly attached to the upper end of the post. In use, an attendant must step on one side of the platform to balance it as the patient pulls himself to a standing position on the opposite side of the platform by means of the grips. The device has spring loaded castors which allow the device to be rolled along the floor if no one is standing on the platform. However, the castors automatically lock by engaging friction brake pads when someone steps on the platform. The device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,509 is unduly complex and expensive. The necessity that an attendant stand on one side of the device to balance it while the patient pulls himself into the standing position on the other side of the platform by means of the grips on the ends of the handlebar prevents the attendant from assisting the patient. Further, the transfer stand disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,509 does not give the appearance of being a safe device. Its appearance tends to discourage certain patients, especially elderly, overweight patients, from using the device.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a patient transfer stand which gives an appearance of safety and inspires a sense of security in a patient who is to use the transfer stand.
Another object of the invention is to provide a patient's transfer stand which is simple but rugged in construction and low in cost and complexity.
Another object of the invention is to provide a safe, economical transfer stand capable of both moving a patient supported in a standing position on the transfer stand by laterally moving the transfer stand across a floor and moving the patient by rotating the transfer stand.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,963,713 discloses an invalid transfer apparatus including a base which rests flat upon a floor surface and a platform rotatably mounted on the base. Three posts rigidly connected to the platform extend vertically upward, the three posts being connected by horizontal U-shaped cross members. A pair of wheels is attached to one of the posts, enabling the device to be tilted so that the wheels roll on the floor surface, raising the platform and allowing the device to be moved. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,963,713 is bulky and awkward to use, and is incapable of lateral movement when a patient is supported on the platform.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,757,388 discloses a transfer stand having a platform rotatably mounted upon a base and a support structure including two verticle posts rigidly mounted along the forward edge of the platform. A gripping structure extends rearward from the tops of the two verticle posts and curves upward and forward to produce a U-shaped horizontal cross bar which can be gripped by the patient. The rearward extending portions provide a slight degree of enclosure of the standing region, but do not extend far eoungh to provide a strong sense of security in a feeble or disabled person. An attendant or nurse rotates the device by pressing with her foot on a ratchet-like treadle attached to a stationery base on which the platform is rotatably mounted. The treadle engages teeth along the circumference of the platform in a ratchet-like fashion. Turning of the transfer stand is an awkward and occassionally abrupt operation, especially when the pressure on the treadle by the attendant's foot is inadvertently, slightly released during rotation, so that the treadle engages a tooth of the transfer stand. This produces an abrupt halt to rotation of the stand before the patient has been rotated to the desired position. The device is incapable of permitting movement of the patient across the floor while the patient is in a standing position.
Accordingly, it is another object of the invention to provide an economical, rugged patient transfer stand which substantially encloses a central standing area so as to inpart to a patient a sense of security and which is capable of allowing movement of a patient across a floor in addition to allowing rotation of the patient and which overcomes the various shortcomings of the prior art.